Be sure to share the road with farm vehicles

With harvest season underway, drivers may experience temporary delays on rural roads due to slow moving farm machinery. Motorists are reminded to be patient and cautious when sharing the road with these vehicles.

Farmers have the important task of transporting the food that feeds our communities, and as part of that transportation they often use public roads to get from field to field, both day and night.

Safety tips to observe when coming across farm machinery on Regional roads include:

• Recognize slow moving vehicles on the road. An orange triangle emblem on the back on a vehicle means it’s a slow-moving vehicle.
• Farm vehicles don’t always have brake lights or turn signals. Operators may not always be visible to demonstrate standard hand signals to show their intentions. 
• Pass with caution as farm vehicles must sometimes swing wide to make turns, so a vehicle swinging to the right may still be turning left.
• Be patient as farmers may be unable to pull off the road due to equipment weight or road shoulder conditions.
• Some farm equipment takes up more than one travel lane. Machinery that is half on the road and half on the shoulder may suddenly move completely onto the road to avoid mailboxes or other obstructions on the shoulder. Often, there are protrusions from the tractor, which can be difficult to see.
• Do not pass and then slow down or stop directly in front of the farm vehicle. Remember that large equipment cannot brake as quickly as a car. Give farmers a wide berth when passing.
• Do not pass equipment at intersections; equipment may turn without the ability to signal or see traffic behind the equipment.

Please be courteous when encountering farm equipment to ensure safe travel on our road system.

To learn more about how we are making Durham roads safer visit durham.ca/VisionZero.